


Press 'F' to Pay Respect

by raienetta



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man - All Media Types
Genre: Character Study, Mugging, Oneshot, Semi-Canonical Character, let me know if you can think of more tags that apply
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-28
Updated: 2020-09-28
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:20:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,522
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26694412
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/raienetta/pseuds/raienetta
Summary: Heading home from a long night of Spiderman-ing Peter Parker doesn't expect to encounter a mugger who's chosen victim is his high-school bully. Nor does he expect that offering to walk Flash home would lead them to a decent conversation and Spider-Man offering to be Flash's friend.
Relationships: Peter Parker & Flash Thompson
Kudos: 31





	Press 'F' to Pay Respect

Peter shifted his feet so that they hung off the edge of the building. His toes dangled over the edge, ready for him to launch off when required. As he got up to crouch in his iconic pose, a few small pieces of brick crumbled away from the edge and fell into the ill-lit street below.

Peter listened to the city, he had always preferred it at night, even before Spiderman. Cars always travelled around no matter what time it was, but at night they were less likely to honk their horns. Instead, their motors ran and the sound of tires against roads were the tell-tale signs that they were incoming. When paired with the hooting of owls and chittering insects, it was like a soothing lullaby.

After realising he was starting to drift, Peter decided to head back home. Shooting out a web, he performed a few tricks as he swung over alleys checking for them for the last time. Peering into their dim lighting, Peter surveyed the shadows, shooting webs and listening for the few he was unsure of.

In one such alley, he heard someone yelp as the web sailed through the shadows. Letting go of his web he flipped onto a roof and instructed Karen to survey the scene.

Following her directions, Peter finally saw the incident. An older well-built man was pressing a younger man against a wall by the neck. He had a knife to the other younger one's throat and was speaking rapidly in a hushed voice.

"I said, give meh everything, kid." He threatened pushing the boy further against the wall, "Last chance before I make you regret it. Big time."

Peter saw as the knife caught the light. It was a simple paring knife not something built to apply the force it would take to stab someone. Still with the knife to his neck the younger man struggled against his attacker, whimpering and shying away from the blade.

"Please, no. I-I swear don't have anything!"

The mugger pushed the younger man further into the wall eliciting a gasp.

"I said, last chance!"

"God have mercy. Please, please, please, just let me go. Man I'm telling you I don't have anything. Just-just please let me go!"

Even with Karen's help, Peter would have missed them had it not been for the knife pressed against the purple Armani polo that the younger man wore. The collar was upturned and the shirt rumpled from the struggling he had surely undergone when first grabbed.

Flipping down from the rooftop, Peter flung his arm out and shot the knife from the mugger's hand. It clattered to the floor at the same time that both mugger and mugged turned to face Peter.

The mugger growled and ran to attack Peter, who flipped over him and shot him in the back with one of his webs. The man stumbled slightly, before righting himself and turning to launch at Peter again. This time, Peter flipped backwards drawing the man to the alleyway's entry. He faked a punch and then stepped into the gap the man left.

The man swung at Peter, who dodged it and kneed the man in the groin. The mugger halted with a sharp intake of breath but quickly continued attacking. He grabbed a broken broom from a nearby pile of junk and began attacking again.

Peter managed to grab the broom and pull it out of the man's hand. Throwing it up in the air he shot a web and stuck it to the side of the alley. The mugger used this as an opportunity to punch him but Peter was quick enough to grab his hand.

He turned around, pulling the man over his shoulder using his hip as leverage for the flip. He sailed through the air and Peter webbed the man to the nearest wall as gravity began to take hold.

"Spiderman!" The young man cried when he had finished, "You totally saved me by kicking that dude's ass!"

Peter turned around, to face the young man who kept rambling and saw that it was Flash. God sometimes he hated his Parker-Luck™.

It seemed that someone, somewhere had decided to dish him out a never ending pile of bad situations. From the spider bite to Ben's murder to Berlin and now saving Flash from a mugging. Peter debated leaving but thought that maybe if he stayed he could make sure that this experience would teach Flash how it felt to be bullied. Peter doubted he could do it, but it was worth a shot.

Even if Flash would probably come in tomorrow and try to rub it in his face that he'd met Spider-Man and Peter hadn't. He wouldn't even think twice about how he felt during the mugging rather, he'd be ranting and raving about talking with Spider-Man and how cool and awesome he was.

_Seriously_ , Peter thought, _doesn't he get it?_

Making his voice deeper he said, "It was nothing, Flash!"

Flash looked at him confused, and Peter realised his mistake.

"Uh… dammit. I mean citizen..." He corrected, turning around before he stuffed this up even more.

"Wait!" called Flash, "You know my name? How?!"

"Um. Peter told me," said Peter, laughing awkwardly, "Anyway, I should get out of here-"

Launching a web, Peter grabbed it and pulled to make sure it was securely attached. He was about to swing away when Flash muttered, "Ugh. Parker. So stupid."

Peter tensed and his heart began pounding. He could feel it in his rib cage and hear it in his ears. Each heartbeat like a beat of a drum.

This was so bad, Mr Stark was going to kill him and then Aunt May was going to revive him and kill him again because Peter was an idiot. Oh, oh, oh. He was so fucked. How did Flash _know_?

Turning around Peter said, "Um. What?"

Flash startled as he realised that his idol had just asked him a question. He opened and closed his mouth a number of times before finally releasing a breath.

"I-I just can't believe that Parker actually knows you. And that he-he was telling the truth about-about _everything_ ," Flash spluttered, "It's just-It's not fair!"

This whole situation was not turning out how Peter had thought.

"I don't follow." He said, the eyes on his mask shrinking as he scrunched his face.

"Of course you don't," said Flash bitterly, "No one does."

"Well then...uh...maybe you could try and explain?" Peter said. He glanced at the clock on Karen's display, "I have some time to spare."

It wasn't necessarily true but, if Peter called May and took a quick detour through the subway making sure to come out near some taller buildings he'd still be able to make it back by curfew without any harm.

"Really!" said Flash as his face lit up, "You'd do that for me?"

"Why not," said Peter, "I'm the friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man. Why don't I walk home with you? Make sure to stop any other muggers on the way."

Peter launched his hands out imitating firing his web and inwardly cringed. God he was making a fool of himself.

"Yeah okay. That's cool." Flash shrugged, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

They walked side by side in silence.

Flash was tense and glancing into every alleyway that they passed. His eyes dragged across each shadow searching tirelessly for anyone who was waiting in ambush. His steps were heavy and his shoulders and knees locked. Occasionally he would glance up at the night sky and his eyes would briefly glaze over as if he'd seen something that stirred his memories.

Peter knew that it wasn't because of the stars though—not that many were able to be seen through the high levels of light pollution anyway—and it wasn't something he'd said because he hadn't said anything at all. So Peter kept watching, waiting to figure out what thoughts could make such a talkative person so quiet.

It took almost 10 minutes walking through the streets of New York before Peter felt a breeze blow by and saw as Flash crossed his arms and tucked his hands into his armpits. His eyes closed and his frame finally relaxed. His footsteps no longer fell as heavy either though his eyes still trailed along the darkness.

It was another minute after that when Flash finally began to look at Peter again. Peter smacked his lips and broke the silence with a whisper.

"So...what's on your mind?"

Flash looked him up and down before finally letting out a sigh and speaking.

"I guess...It's just...It's just so typical. Parker's always had everything handed to him. First it's because he's an orphan. Then it's that he lives with his aunt—who is working two jobs since her husband died—in this crappy apartment in the middle of Queens and he just ' _needs extra support to deal with the stress_ '. And then suddenly he's coming in sprouting all this shit about having an internship at Stark Industries which requires him to work the weirdest hours and is suddenly an excuse to skip out on Decathlon meets in favour of supposedly going here and there to meet with _the Avengers_.

"It's just not something which happens. I've been trying for years to even get onto the _Internship and Scholarship Recipients_ list so that they at least know my name. And-And then suddenly out of nowhere Parker comes in with a personal internship with _Tony_ -fucking- _Stark_ and everyone just believed him about it. And I know I give him shit about it but no one asked _any_ questions even though Stark Industries doesn't even consider interns until they're in their Junior year at College—No matter how good they are.

"I know Parker's damn more than good. How can you not? God, I do anything just to go back in time and slap myself for not becoming his friend but I can't and I've got to live with that. The internship is the opportunity of a lifetime and Peter being given this in high-school is just-it's another reminder of how special he is and how average the rest of us are. He has friends that support him and an aunt that loves his and sometimes I...Sometimes I wish that I'm the one living his life and he's the one living mine."

Flash let out a quiet laugh.

"God I'm pathetic." He said.

Peter, who had never thought of himself as anything special, was reeling. Was that really what people thought about him? Did they think he was someone they wished to be? Peter hoped they didn't because between the panic attacks and Spider-Man he really was quite a mess.

Sure he had Ned and MJ to support him but they had their bad moments as well. Their last fight had gone on for two weeks before May had intervened and it was still a sore spot for the both of them.

Friendship wasn't something that Peter was skilled at but it was something he made sure he kept in up with. Having a supportive friend group was the only thing that kept Peter going. He didn't know what he'd do if he wasn't able to rely on others for help. So Flash shouldn't feel jealous that Peter had friends. If anything, Peter should be the one to feel bad that Flash didn't.

There was a moment of silence before Peter spoke.

"I can be your friend too! There's no need to be jealous." He offered.

"Really?" asked Flash, "You'd do that?"

"Of course," said Peter, "Everyone should have friends that they like."

By now they had stopped outside a house and were illuminated by the set of lanterns which hung either side of the entryway.

Flash grabbed his keys from his pocket and put them in the door. He turned the lock and the door swung open. In a moment of indecision Flash stood in the doorway. Peter waited as the silence became awkward and Flash finally pulled out his phone.

He opened his mouth but closed it quickly. From under his mask, Peter looked at Flash weirdly until he blurted out his question.

"Since we're now friends," He began, "Can I have a selfie?"

"Sure." said Peter, walking to Flash and placing his hand on his shoulder.

* * *

The next day at school, Peter and Ned sat together at the back of their first class.

There had been a car crash on the bridge that morning and the already horrible New York traffic had turned into a nightmare. An office lady had come around and told them that their teacher was running late and that they should make use of this time to do some homework. But, as with unsupervised school children, they were talking.

Flash stood out front showing everyone and anyone something on his phone.

"That's so cool!" said one person, "Is it true?"

"Yeah. So, Spidey and me are best friends now," he said loudly while smirking, "Best friends!"

Holding up the phone he turned to Peter and Ned. Walking the few steps between the students he made sure Peter was watching before he exclaimed, "Hear that, Penis? Maybe I'll meet Tony Stark soon. I might even get Spiderman to convince Stark to give me an internship."

Ned turned to Peter, he seemed betrayed.

Placing his hands flat on the desk he said, "Say, Peter. You didn't actually become friends with the person who has bullied and belittled you since childhood. Did you?"

Ned expected Peter to do something stupid every day but this was reaching new heights. If he hadn't been friends with the idiot he would have been one of the first to deny Flash's claims. The school bully and the neighbourhood superhero/protector of the weak being friends? Yeah, right.

However, since he was friends with the dumbass that was Peter he knew that it was entirely possible that he had done it, plausible, no—oh who was he kidding. Of course, Peter would do something like this!

And as if to spite Ned, Peter said, "He's not actually that bad once he gets talking, Ned, he's just got problems like the rest of us. And anyway... Spiderman's his friend, not Peter."

Placing his hands on his friend's shoulders Ned began lecturing.

"Peter what the heck are you thinking? Flash friends with Spidey? It's like you want your life to suck!" Ned commented wondering how much stupid his friend could be, and what this would mean for their future interactions.

"I know, Ned, I know…" Said Peter, covering his face with his hands.

Sure Flash had his problems, but that didn't mean anything when you look at it. Peter had problems, Ned had problems, heck even Mr Harrington had problems. None of them took it out on individuals.

Man what a mess he had gotten himself into. His mind decided that it was a great time to flash through all of the possible scenarios that his actions had caused. Each seemed worse than the last and god—what had Peter got himself into?


End file.
